Ifat Levy, PhD
Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Comparative Medicine and Vice Chair for Diversity, Inclusion and EquityDownloadHi-Res Photo
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Appointments
Additional Titles
Co-director, Science Fellows Program
Contact Info
Comparative Medicine
PO Box 208016
New Haven, CT 06520-8016
United States
Appointments
Additional Titles
Co-director, Science Fellows Program
Contact Info
Comparative Medicine
PO Box 208016
New Haven, CT 06520-8016
United States
Appointments
Additional Titles
Co-director, Science Fellows Program
Contact Info
Comparative Medicine
PO Box 208016
New Haven, CT 06520-8016
United States
About
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Titles
Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Comparative Medicine and Vice Chair for Diversity, Inclusion and Equity
Co-director, Science Fellows Program
Biography
I am interested in the neural mechanisms underlying decision-making in humans, in individual differences in these mechanisms, and in the possible contribution of decision traits to pathological behavior. Our research focuses on decision-making under uncertainty, and on value learning and encoding. To study these topics we combine behavioral economics methods with functional MRI, as well as eye tracking and physiological measurements.
Last Updated on April 07, 2025.
Appointments
Comparative Medicine
ProfessorPrimaryDepartment of Psychology
ProfessorSecondaryNeuroscience
ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Comparative Medicine
- Decision Neuroscience Lab
- Department of Psychology
- Diabetes Research Center
- Discovery to Cure Internship
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- MR Core
- Neuroscience
- Neuroscience Track
- VA National Center for PTSD
- Wu Tsai Institute
- Yale Center for Molecular and Systems Metabolism (YMSM)
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- PhD
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2004)
- LLB
- Tel Aviv University (1997)
- BS
- Tel Aviv University, Physics (1994)
Research
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Overview
- Risk and ambiguity in the negative domain – examining behavior and neural activation for decision in terms of risk and ambiguity between outcomes that include losses.
- Behavior and neural correlates of decision under risk and ambiguity across the lifespan.
- Decision parameters in obese and lean individuals – comparing attitudes towards decision parameters such as risk and ambiguity in different BMI groups.
- Implicit learning of value - behavior and neural correlates of value learning in conditioning paradigms and their relationship to choice processes.
- Representation of food in obese and lean subjects - how is food that is depicted in movies perceived and how does it affect choice.
Medical Research Interests
Basal Ganglia; Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms; Central Nervous System; Cerebral Cortex
Public Health Interests
Aging; Child/Adolescent Health; Obesity
ORCID
0000-0001-7851-9070- View Lab Website
Decision Neuroscience Lab
Research at a Glance
Yale Co-Authors
Frequent collaborators of Ifat Levy's published research.
Publications Timeline
A big-picture view of Ifat Levy's research output by year.
Ilan Harpaz-Rotem, PhD, ABPP
Nachshon Korem
Or Duek, PhD
John Krystal, MD
Tobias Spiller, MD
Chadi Abdallah, MD
43Publications
1,451Citations
Publications
2025
Cannabinoid 1 receptor availability in posttraumatic stress disorder: A positron emission tomography study
Korem N, Bassir Nia A, Hillmer A, D’Souza D, Nabulsi N, Ropchan J, Huang Y, Cosgrove K, Levy I, Pietrzak R, Harpaz-Rotem I. Cannabinoid 1 receptor availability in posttraumatic stress disorder: A positron emission tomography study. Translational Psychiatry 2025, 15: 310. PMID: 40846835, PMCID: PMC12373994, DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03519-9.BooksCitationsAltmetricConceptsPathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorderEmotional numbing symptomsCB1R availabilityPosttraumatic stress disorderEndocannabinoid systemStress disorderPositron emission tomographyTrauma-exposed participantsEndocannabinoid system's rolePositron emission tomography studiesCannabinoid receptor 1Emission tomography studiesMulti-faceted disorderFear learningCB1RSymptom expressionHealthy controlsCannabinoidDisordersTomography studiesEmission tomographyPreclinical studiesSymptomsHigher levelsReceptor 1A whole-brain voxel-based analysis of structural abnormalities in PTSD: An ENIGMA-PGC study
See C, Si S, Baird C, Haswell C, Hussain A, Olff M, Veltman D, Frijling J, van Zuiden M, Koch S, Nawijn L, Wang L, Zhu Y, Li G, Neria Y, Zhu X, Suarez-Jimenez B, Zilcha-Mano S, Lazarov A, Stevens J, Ressler K, Fani N, Jovanovic T, van Rooij S, Kaufman M, Lebois L, Rosso I, Olson E, Baker J, Sponheim S, Disner S, Davenport N, Etkin A, Maron-Katz A, Stein M, Shenton M, Stein D, Ipser J, Koopowitz S, Seedat S, du Plessis S, van den Heuvel L, Lissek S, Berg H, Straube T, Hofman D, Baugh L, Forster G, Simons R, Simons J, Magnotta V, Fercho K, Wang X, Cotton A, O'Leary E, Xie H, Grupe D, Nitschke J, Davidson R, Larson C, deRoon-Cassini T, Tomas C, Fitzgerald J, Blackford J, Olatunji B, Gordon E, May G, Nelson S, Lanius R, Théberge J, Densmore M, Neufeld R, Abdallah C, Averill C, Harpaz-Rotem I, Levy I, Krystal J, Geuze E, van Lutterveld R, Dennis E, Tate D, Cifu D, Walker W, Wilde E, van der Wee N, Vermeiren R, van der Werff S, McLaughlin K, Sambrook K, Peverill M, Radua J, Salminen L, Jahanshad N, Thomopoulos S, James A, Valmaggia L, Thompson P, Morey R, Kempton M. A whole-brain voxel-based analysis of structural abnormalities in PTSD: An ENIGMA-PGC study. European Psychiatry 2025, 68: e97. PMID: 40692500, PMCID: PMC12344465, DOI: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.10062.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsPosttraumatic stress disorder patientsPosttraumatic stress disorderAssociated with GM volumeWhole-brain voxel-based analysisVoxel-based morphometryRegional brain volumesGM volumeBrain volumeDepression severityWhole-brainPosttraumatic stress disorder severityWhole-brain statistical mapsCerebellar WM volumeTrauma-exposed controlsStructural neuroimaging scansSuperior frontal gyrusGray matterStatistical mapsVoxel-wise differencesAnalysis of structural abnormalitiesFrontal gyrusTrauma exposureMemory processesStress disorderWhite matterDivergent attitudes toward ambiguous and conflicting information
Dan O, Sanghvi M, Levy I. Divergent attitudes toward ambiguous and conflicting information. Scientific Reports 2025, 15: 25748. PMID: 40670542, PMCID: PMC12267609, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-11433-9.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsTrait agreeablenessBehavioral paradigmsMonetary outcomesAmbiguous lotteriesExploratory analysisInformation conflictAdvice-givingSuccess chancesAversion attitudeComparative formParticipantsTraitsSubjective probabilityConflict attitudesWeak associationAgreeablenessPolarized societyDivergent attitudesDecision-makingAttitudesConflictAversionConnectome-Based Predictive Modeling of PTSD Development Among Recent Trauma Survivors
Ben-Zion Z, Simon A, Rosenblatt M, Korem N, Duek O, Liberzon I, Shalev A, Hendler T, Levy I, Harpaz-Rotem I, Scheinost D. Connectome-Based Predictive Modeling of PTSD Development Among Recent Trauma Survivors. JAMA Network Open 2025, 8: e250331. PMID: 40063028, PMCID: PMC11894499, DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.0331.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsConnectome-based predictive modelingPosttraumatic stress disorderClinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5Months post-traumaFunctional magnetic resonance imagingTrauma survivorsDSM-5Post-traumaPosttraumatic stress disorder symptom clustersPosttraumatic stress disorder symptom severityPosttraumatic stress disorder symptom trajectoriesPosttraumatic stress disorder severityTask-based fMRI dataAnterior default modePredictive of symptomsFollow-up assessmentDevelopment of effective personalized treatmentsComprehensive clinical assessmentClinician-AdministeredNeurobiological indicesPosttraumatic psychopathologyHyperarousal symptomsCentral executiveTrauma exposureSalience networkModeling decision-making under uncertainty with qualitative outcomes.
Korem N, Duek O, Jia R, Wertheimer E, Metviner S, Grubb M, Levy I. Modeling decision-making under uncertainty with qualitative outcomes. PLOS Computational Biology 2025, 21: e1012440. PMID: 40029903, PMCID: PMC11918403, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1012440.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsHuman factors in triaging forensic items: Casework pressures and ambiguity aversion
Almazrouei M, Dror I, Morgan R, Dan O, Paterson M, Levy I. Human factors in triaging forensic items: Casework pressures and ambiguity aversion. Science & Justice 2025, 65: 149-162. PMID: 40082061, DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2025.02.001.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsModerate stability of risk and ambiguity attitudes across quantitative and qualitative decisions
Dan O, Xu C, Jia R, Wertheimer E, Chawla M, Fuhrmann Alpert G, Fried T, Levy I. Moderate stability of risk and ambiguity attitudes across quantitative and qualitative decisions. Scientific Reports 2025, 15: 3119. PMID: 39856239, PMCID: PMC11760528, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-87644-x.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsHypothetical monetary gainsMonetary lotteriesUncertainty attitudesAmbiguity attitudesBinary choiceIndividual preferencesLow outcomesDecision-makingMonetary gainsOutcome magnitudeDecision-making taskSuccess chancesStabilization of riskDecisionUncertaintyChoiceLotteryModerate stabilityEveryday choicesAttitude consistencyQualitative decisionsQualitative outcomesLevel of improvementPreferences
2024
Representation of Anticipated Rewards and Punishments in the Human Brain
Ben-Zion Z, Levy I. Representation of Anticipated Rewards and Punishments in the Human Brain. Annual Review Of Psychology 2024, 76: 197-226. PMID: 39418537, PMCID: PMC11930275, DOI: 10.1146/annurev-psych-022324-042614.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricConceptsNeural representationReward valuePunishment valueRepresentation of reward valueValue-based decision-makingStress-related psychopathologySubjective reward valueCross-species studiesPunishment processingAnticipated rewardsReward typeBrain regionsSubjective valueMental illnessNeural encodingAnimal researchHuman brainRewardHuman studiesBrainPunishmentMethodological challengesPsychopathologyDecision-makingNeuroeconomicsIndividual differences in information demand have a low dimensional structure predicted by some curiosity traits
Jach H, Cools R, Frisvold A, Grubb M, Hartley C, Hartmann J, Hunter L, Jia R, de Lange F, Larisch R, Lavelle-Hill R, Levy I, Li Y, van Lieshout L, Nussenbaum K, Ravaioli S, Wang S, Wilson R, Woodford M, Murayama K, Gottlieb J. Individual differences in information demand have a low dimensional structure predicted by some curiosity traits. Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of America 2024, 121: e2415236121. PMID: 39467138, PMCID: PMC11551435, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2415236121.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchCitationsAltmetricMeSH Keywords and ConceptsConceptsCognitive tasksPersonality trait measuresTraits of opennessCuriosity traitsPersonality psychologyEmotional processingPersonality measuresPersonality traitsTrait measuresAssociated with curiosityCuriosity measuresIndividual differencesTested multiple aspectsJoyous explorationCognitive scienceDeprivation sensitivityHuman learningPersonsTraitsTaskDimensional structureInformation demandPersonality metricsMultiple aspectsPsychologyAffective Motivations for Substance Misuse Differentially Relate to Consideration of Multiple Costs During Effortful Decision Making
Ruiz S, Levy I, Baskin-Sommers A. Affective Motivations for Substance Misuse Differentially Relate to Consideration of Multiple Costs During Effortful Decision Making. Journal Of Psychopathology And Clinical Science 2024, 133: 554-564. PMID: 39101939, DOI: 10.1037/abn0000931.Peer-Reviewed Original ResearchAltmetricConceptsSubstance useEffort Expenditure for Rewards TaskEffortful decision makingDiverse community sampleReward taskNegative affectPositive affectCommunity sampleComputational model parametersDifferential relationsHeightened sensitivityAffecting motivationDecision makingAffectLoss magnitudeMotivationCost informationIndividualsSubstancesLikelihood of lossTaskMakingEffective decision makingUseMultiple costs
Clinical Trials
Current Trials
Using Neuroimaging to track symptom change in PTSD treatment
HIC ID2000025892RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date07/31/2029Recruiting ParticipantsStudying the Adult Brain
HIC ID2000025671RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date07/31/2025Recruiting ParticipantsIntensive 7-day Treatment for PTSD Combining Ketamine With Exposure Therapy (PTSD)
HIC ID1509016530RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date08/01/2030Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge21 years - 70 yearsHelp us understand how people learn and make decisions
HIC ID0910005795RolePrincipal InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date12/31/2025Recruiting ParticipantsBiomarkers of Clinical Subtype and Treatment Response in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
HIC ID0803003626RoleSub InvestigatorPrimary Completion Date04/19/2025Recruiting ParticipantsGenderBothAge18 years - 70 years
News & Links
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News
- April 08, 2025
How Does Your Brain Make Decisions? Researchers Develop a Novel Model
- March 10, 2025Source: Yale News
Machine Learning Model Predicts PTSD Symptom Severity Over Time
- August 12, 2024Source: Yale News
Insights & Outcomes: Sea scorpions, delusions, and forensics-related stress
- January 02, 2024
Duek, Harpaz-Rotem Paper Named '2023 Leading Research Achievement' by BBRF
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Comparative Medicine
PO Box 208016
New Haven, CT 06520-8016
United States
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Decision Neuroscience Lab
Lab
100 College Street, Fl 11, Ste suite 1173
New Haven, CT 06510
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203.737.2779Decision Neuroscience Lab
Academic Office
100 College Street, Fl 11, Ste suite 1173, Rm 1173
New Haven, CT 06510
Appointments
203.737.1374